"and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in
love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you;
so that He may establish your hearts without blame in
holiness before our God and Father at the coming
of our Lord Jesus with all His saints."
Context- Acts 17:1-14
- Paul and Silas traveled to Thessalonica
- Paul preached the Gospel for three straight Sabbaths at the local Jewish Synagogue
- Some Jews were saved, and a vast number of Greek men, and prominent women.
- Some Jews got jealous, and started an uproar in the city, and attacked Jason's house.
- The church sent Paul and Silas away at night to Berea.
- Paul preached at Berea as well (same results).
- Some Jews were saved, but a large number of Greek women and men.
- The Jews in Thessalonica heard about what was happening in Berea.
- They came and started and uproar there as well.
- The church sent Paul out to sea, while Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.
-The book of 1 Thessalonians was written in Corinth around A.D. 53
-It was written by Paul, Silas and Timothy
-It was written to a local church (1:1-10) who knew what true love was (1:3,3:6,4:9-10).
-Possible temptation /struggle with sexual sin ,
or maybe in an environment where it was rampant (4:1-5).
There is so many applications for my life (and yours)
in this great book.
This local church dealt with some very hateful Jews,
who wanted them either dead or imprisoned,
and with the temptation to commit sexual sins.
This is very applicable in our day.
Although we don't necessarily deal with hateful Jews,
but likely there are people in or around
your life who have been very hateful to you.
This is very difficult to go through, so many times in my life
I have responded the wrong way to hatefulness,
and began being hateful myself.
This world is full of lust.
All you have to do is turn on the television,
open up a magazine, get on the internet,
or go to the mall and with one glance lust could destroy you.
Lust is everywhere and is a definite enemy for
those of us who are striving to live for Jesus.
So what are we supposed to do?
How can we combat these sins?
The way we can combat this is to love everyone fiercely.
"and may the Lord cause"
Love is from God, and in fact, God is love. It can only come for Him.
It is a gift of God, and not man....
"you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people."
"Increase" and "abound" are Greek synonyms (they mean the same thing)
-To be in excess, in number or measure, to be or have more than enough.
"Increase and abound in love in such a way that this ocean of love,
being full, reaches to the top edge of its borders round about
that it reaches not only Christians, but it also spills over to the lost."
But what kind of love?
Are we just supposed to be nice to people and say "God bless you"?
NO
"'just as we also did for you:"
Show love the way Paul, Silas and Timothy showed toward the Thessalonians.
But how did they show love to the Thessalonians?
-They preached the Gospel constantly (1:7-8,2:1-6)
-They showed Godly affection (2:7)
-They gave up their lives for them (mortal life,money, time, hobbies, etc.) (2:8-9)
-They lived upright and blameless toward them (2:10)
-They exhorted and encouraged from God's Word (2:3-6,11-12, 5:14)
-They esteemed the preached word of God (2:13,5:12-13)
"so that He may establish your hearts without blame in
holiness before our God and Father at the
coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints."
This kind of love is not the cause of being blameless in holiness before God.
In other words, doing good deeds will not put you in heaven.
It is not the cause, but it is the evidence that God has
established your heart without blame in holiness before God.
God put that love in you. You didn't somehow conjure it up.
"The Lord by means of love strengthens the inner purposes and desires.
Hearts that are strengthened by this love are less prone to
crave the unseperated life, the life of the world.
They will tend in the direction of wholly separated life,
so that, trusting entirely in Christ and His redemption and
experiencing the transforming influences of His Spirit,
they will be blameless, in a state and condition of holiness
(separated from sin, consecration to God)."
In short, preach the gospel, esteem the Word,
love one another with a deep affection, follow Christ,
exhort and encourage from the Word,
and lay down your whole life for everyone.
This is what it means to love fiercely.
Do it, and see what happens.
You might just start loving sin a little less
and Jesus a lot more.
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